Well cutter



April 16, 1968 M. E. LA BATE 3,377,920

WELL CUTTER Filed April 19 1967 Y 1; INVENTOR.

W Mfcg ae/ E. LaBaf ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,377,920 WELL CUTTER Michael E. La Bate, Ellwood City, Pa., assignor to Insul Company, Incorporated, East Palestine, Ohio Filed Apr. 19, 1967, Ser. No. 631,933 4 Claims. (Cl. 90-12) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A well cutter for refractory lined hot metal ladles and the like having radially positioned arcuate cutting blades above a cylindrical guide member with cross pieces engaging the blades and supporting a handle including a section on the longitudinal axis of said cylindrical guide and a cross piece transversely thereof.

This invention relates to a well cutter and more particularly to a device usable in a ladle for shaping the pouring orifice in refractory material installed in the ladle. The principal object of the invention is the provision of a simple, inexpensive, easily operable well cutter which may be positioned in a ladle with a portion of the well cutter in registry with the pouring orifice of the ladle, and usable to cut a well in the refractory material centered on the actual pouring orifice of the ladle.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a well cutter for a ladle or the like, which is so formed as to be self-centering with respect to the pouring orifice of the ladle and thereby capable of holding itself in desired well cutting position. Those skilled in the art will recognize that wells are commonly and necessarily cut in the refractory lining of a hot metal ladle around and about the pouring orifice therein. In the past these Wells have been hand out and have of necessity been out of round and off-center with respect to the actual pouring orifice with the wall areas of the wells formed at various angles, etc. In order that the refractory liners of the ladles can be properly installed and positioned relative to the pouring orifice so as to avoid damage by the hot metal to the actual metal body of the ladle, it is necessary that the Well be properly formed, properly located and the invention disclosed herein makes the formation of the well a relatively simple and easy matter.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being the intention to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view with parts broken away, showing the well cutter.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view on a reduced scale.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged cross sectional detail of one of the arcuate blades of the well cutter.

By referring to the drawing, and FIGURE 1 in particular, it will be seen that the well cutter comprises a cylindrical guide member which is open at its upper and lower ends and which is centrally positioned relative to a plurality of upwardly and outwardly curving cutter blades 11. The upper ends of each of the plurality of cutter blades 11 are joined to one another by cross pieces 12 and a tubular handle 13 is secured to the cross pieces 12 on the vertical center line of the cylindrical guide 10 and the tubular handle 13, so as to extend thereabove. The upper end of the tubular handle 13 is integrally joined to a transverse handle 14 and it will thus be seen that the entire well cutter may be conveniently rotated by the handle 14. Each of the blades 11 are provided with tapered edges 15 leading to cutting edges 16.

The well cutter is preferably formed of metal such as steel, with the blades 11 being formed of a hardened steel capable of maintaining a sharp cutting edge, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art.

By referring now to FIGURE 2 of the drawings, it will be seen that the tubular handle 13 is on the axial center line of the device, which is also the axial center line of the cylindrical guide 10 thereof, and about which center line the blades 11 are radially positioned and equally spaced. The blades 11 are duplicates of one another so that their arcuate shapes will form a desirable curved wall well in the refractory material in the ladle. It will also be seen that the transverse handle 14 is joined midway between its ends to the upper end of the tubular handle 13. It is therefore obvious that the device can easily be positioned in a ladle with the cylindrical guide 10 engaged in the pouring orifice thereof and the device revolved so that the cutter blades 11, and more particularly their sharpened edges 16, will cut a desirably shaped well in the refractory material, which is usually clay or a similar product. It will be seen that the resulting well will be properly positioned with respect to the pouring orifice, inasmuch as the cutting position of the cutter blades 11 is controlled by the location of the cylindrical guide 10, which is itself engaged in the pouring orifice of the ladle.

It will thus be seen that a well cutter meeting the several objects of the invention has been disclosed, and having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A well cutter for shaping refractory lining in hot metal ladles and the like, and comprising a cylindrical guide member, two pairs of oppositely disposed upwardly and outwardly extending cutter blades secured at their lower ends to the upper end of said cylindrical guide member, support means interconnecting the upper ends of said cutter blades and means positioned on said support means on the axial center line of said cylindrical guide and spaced thereabove for rotating said cutter blades and cylindrical guide.

2. The well cutter set forth in claim 1, and wherein each of said cutter blades are longitudinally arcuate and their edges are tapered and sharpened to form cutting edges.

3. The well cutter set forth in claim 1, and wherein said support means interconnecting the upper outer ends of said cutter blades are horizontally positioned crossed pieces and said means for rotating said well cutter is attached to said crossed pieces at their point of crossing.

4. The well cutter for hot metal ladles set forth in claim 1 and wherein the cylindrical guide is of a diameter registrable'with the pouring orifice of said ladle, and has open upper and lower ends.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,236,408 8/1917 Dickson -125 1,764,184 6/1930 Savidge 90-125 2,041,587 5/1936 Beard 90- 12.5

LEONIDAS VLACHOS, Primary Examiner. 

